New in Town
by Storyteller xx
Summary: He's the outcast, perfect without trying. He's too good for this place, and everyone. But then the new girl arrives, she's carefree, wild and pretty ordinary. On the first glance. With her she's brought an unpredicatable and tragic past.
1. Chapter 1: Unexpected

**Hey guys, don't ask me why I'm writing another story, I've got like 3 going on already.**

**But this idea came to me today; I got the day off school coz of a freak dust storm! When I woke up this morning the sky was red, that's how thick the dust was.**

**I think I know where I want this story to go, so review if you like it. **

Edward POV

My parents keep asking how school was. It's like saying. "How was that drive-by shooting?" You don't care how it was, you're lucky to get out alive.

It's a building full of try hards.

Not academic try-hards, because that would be acceptable. But socially active try hards.

You MUST be getting wasted on booze, to eat right.  
You MUST be high on drugs to be happy.  
You MUST wear the right clothes to dress right.  
You MUST hook up with the right people, hell, hook up with someone.

You MUST NOT ace exams, only the sporting events.  
You MUST NOT repeat the same outfit twice to be fashionable.  
You MUST NOT socialize with the OUT people in front of the IN people to be recognized.

High school is a democracy of contradictory bureaucrats, everything right is wrong. Everything wrong is right.

So where do I fit in?

I don't try hard, I don't even bother really.

I ace every exam, every track, field, sporting event, yet I have only a few friends of the OUT variety.

I get hassled by the IN guys, for stealing their girlfriends, when I asked the girl to borrow her pencil sharpener, but I could take them on any day if I wasn't so against violence.

A lot of teenagers are people who express a burning desire to be different yet dress exactly alike.

All the girls want to be blonde, bronze and bony.  
All the guys want to be, tough, tall, and team captain.

When people see me, they think I believe I'm too good for this place. Frankly, I believed they were right.

No one met my expectations, everyone was losers. Everyone resembled clones.

Then, one typical, dreary day, as I handed up an English Essay I finished _that _morning, a loud BANG from the back of the room startled me and I dropped my paper and the books I was holding.

"Sorry I'm late!" A flustered girl said a tad too loud while juggling the pile of books she cradled. She slammed the door she'd just bursted through, shut. I didn't recognize her, she must have been new.

A few snickers rung out among the students.

"That's fine, Miss…" The English teacher, Mr. Morton said.

"Swan. Bella Swan." She smiled and finished for him. Then she did the unthinkable. She waltzed right up to him and struck out her hand for him to shake, while balancing her books on her hips. "Pleasure to meet you Mr.…?"

"Morton." He finished, quite baffled and took her hand in his.

I blinked twice to just to see if I was indeed witnessing this.

The snickers become giggles and whispers of various labels; "What a freak… loser… dork… downer… suck up… wannabe…"

"This must be yours," She gestured and bent down to pick up my paper for me.

"Oh no, it's alright, I'll get it." I mumbled and bent down to retrieve it before she could. However, we bumped heads on the way down, and dropped our books.

"Sorry!" she gushed and fumbled around for her things.

"No, my bad." I grumbled, annoyed. I picked up my books and got to my feet.

"Here," she smiled tentatively, and handed my paper which I snatched out of her hands and gave to Mr. Morton.

She merely shrugged, and skipped to an empty seat.

That's right, skipped.

At this point the giggles had turned into blatant, hysterical laughing, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Quiet please." Mr. Morton instructed in his infamous monotone.

Till that point, I hadn't become aware of her attire. Instead of the regular skimpy short skirts and plunging blouses, she wore a long gypsy skirt and sandals. Instead of the common sleek, edgy, straight hair styles every girl had, her hair was waist length and wavy yet slightly on the frizzy side. It was pulled back at the front to reveal her interesting, make up free face.

She then flicked through her stack of notebooks and folders and settled on an empty notepad. She began scribbling away on the pad, although Mr. Morton hadn't ordered us to write anything; he was still in the process of collecting papers.

"Mr. Cullen, I have your paper, please return to your seat." He instructed.

I did as he ordered, noticing everyone busy whispering behind shielding hands, and giggling.

Typical.

When I got to my seat, I rifled through the stack of books till I noticed I book that wasn't mine. I flicked through the pages, astounded by what I saw.

It must have been the new girls'.

And with that book I began to realise this girl was definitely not like all the others.

**Thanks for reading!**

**Now review. **

**If I get 5, then I guess I'll continue. **


	2. Chapter 2: Mystery Girl

It was a simple notepad, blue on the cover, but scribble marks and cartoon drawings weaved their way across the page.

On the inside, the left page was blank, whilst the right was lined paper.

On the left, intricate sketches wafted down and across the page, buildings, scenery, and people.

On the right, poems and short stories danced over the pages.

I laughed about the story of the rogue fairy, squirmed over a grotesque murder and became immersed in the mystery outline she'd written for a future story.

A particular picture caught my eye as I flicked through the pages.

It was a charcoal portrait of a girl. She had long flowing hair, and a daisy chain rested upon her head. She seemed exuberant and had several laugh lines for someone who seemed so young.

On the right hand side her messy hand writing had the words _Stay With Me _printed in block letters.

Curious I scanned the page only to find they were lyrics.

_Immersed in your reflection,  
So keen to achieve perfection,  
Withering Away_

_You have to have the look,  
Individuality is a closed book,  
Now I can only pray._

_Chorus: I take one look at you,  
But I don't understand why,  
You had to do this to yourself,  
You were so beautiful..._

_You think it has to be done,  
Fighting a battle that can't be won,  
I can't look at you with dry eyes._

_Deep inside I know you're hurting,  
You're on a thin line, always skirting,  
Please stop switching sides._

_Chorus_

Oh the rumours start to spread,  
Nothing can be said,  
They say it all themselves.

_Your name is on their lips,  
Why can't you come to grips?  
You can't keep this to yourself._

_Chorus_

_I can't say anything to help you,  
Nothing to convince you,  
Nothing to keep you with me,_

_Your healthy glow has long disappeared,  
Then you fell just as I feared,  
You were so beautiful, why can't you see..._

_Please stay with me._

I read over the lyrics again.

Were they about the girl on the left page? She was right though, the girl was very beautiful.

I was so engrossed in the lyrics I missed the sound of the bell ring, and when the dark and fuming figure loomed over me, I barely noticed it.

"What are you doing?" It growled.

I jumped in my seat, startled and quickly lifted my gaze to hers.

The classroom was empty except for me and the new girl, and I couldn't remember her name.

"Sorry, is this yours?" I swallowed and held the book out for her.

"Yes!" She hissed and snatched away the notepad.

"I must've picked it up when we dropped our books by mistake..."

"This is personal!" She cried and flicked through the pages, checking to see if it was intact.

"I didn't damage any of it, I promise." I said but she narrowed her eyes at me in response. "You're very talented, if you don't mind me saying." I said gently, hoping to lessen her anger.

"I do mind!" She blushed a cherry red, and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear put dropped her books in the process, causing her to turn a deeper red and rushed to pick them up.

I jumped out of my chair and skidded around to help her retrieve them.

"Gosh, I'm so clumsy." She murmured.

"Let me help..." I fussed, but she pushed my hand away angrily.

"I don't need any help." She frowned and swept her books up in one motion, and waltzed out the door.

"Wait, I don't remember your name!" I called to her.

"Invasive and rude!" She spun around and glared at me. "It's Bella Swan." She sighed and stopped in the middle of the corridor, and bit her lip, clearly lost.

"Would you like me to show you to your next class?" I asked politely.

"I don't need any help, from you especially." She hissed, and scanned the halls helplessly.

"Please, it's the least I can do to prove I'm sorry." I pleaded.

She looked at me long and hard before finally agreeing, hesitantly.

"I'm Edward Cullen by the way." I smiled.

"That's nice. Being the better person I'll remember your name." She smirked.

I laughed nervously, showing her I appreciated her humour, to which she did not find complimentary and lost her smirk.

She slapped her timetable in my hand and folded her arms across her books while I analysed it.

"You have PE now; I'm in that class too. It's in the gymnasium, just up ahead." I gestured.

"Great..." She said under her breath.

"Look, I'm being sincere here; you don't need to be rude." I said sternly, and walked off without her.

***

"Class, this semester we're going to be learning the exotic sport of dance!" Our gym teacher Coach Sampson announced with a big, wide grin.

The boys groaned, but the girls squealed amongst themselves.

"First dance we shall learn is the Cha-Cha!" He said, swaying his hips. "Men, please choose your lady partner." He boomed.

Several girls gave me eager grins, but the athletic boys in the class, quickly stepped forward to claim them as their own.

The remaining ones paired off with the quieter boys slower, and soon there was only one girl left for me to take.

She slumped her shoulder forward in dismay, while other girls shot her jealous and confused looks.

"Guess it's just the two of us." I sighed melodramatically, mocking her disapproval of me.

"Funny one Cullen." She said unsmiling.

Just to be aggravating, I winked at her, took her small palm in my own and spun her around. However as she had said previously, she was clumsy, and tripped over her own foot in the process.

She gasped, but I quickly caught her in my arms.

She looked up at me in surprise and I noticed how her long dark lashes, framed her chocolate eyes perfectly.

"Thanks," She breathed, slightly flushed.

"No problem." I said, cleared my throat and steadied her and listened to the instruction Coach gave us about the dance.

But his words flew in one ear and out the other; I could only picture Bella's eyes.

God she was beautiful.

**A/N: Hi all, I know I said I'd write another chapter for 5 reviews, so I did, hope you like it.  
Also I want you to know I did write Stay With Me for a friend much like the friend in Bella's situation, there is piano music that goes with it too, but I can't exactly describe that in words, I'll do my best when the time comes. You will find out more of this friend later on as the plot unwinds. **

**So thankyou, and review!**


	3. Chapter 3: Cha Cha

I finally tuned in properly when he announced for us to give it a try.

"Did you get any of that?" I asked embarrassed.

"I think so." She shrugged, took my hand in hers, put my hand on her lower back, and gently placed her other hand on my shoulder. She stood on her toes to reach my shoulder though.

The music began to play and she moved me back and forth to the rhythm, holding me close.

"One, two, cha, cha, cha. Three, four, cha, cha, cha." She murmured under her breath, counting the beats.

"Very nice Cullen, Swan." Coach nodded as he walked past just as she swung me out and pulled me in again.

I looked down to meet her eyes and gave her an impressed smile; she returned it with a meek one.

"How do you know how to dance like this?" I asked amazed as she swung me out again.

"I'm just a good listener." She stated and continued to count under her breath.

I turned my head around as Bella continued to take the lead. The rest of the class had been watching us intently, the girls swooning, the boys closely observing, trying to mimic my steps.

Soon enough I caught onto the rhythm and took a firmer grasp of her hand, and began to lead.

She raised an eyebrow, but did not object.

We continued to dance, until the music stopped and the class gave us a round of applause.

Bella blushed and pulled away from my hold.

"You're a wonderful dancer." I complimented.

"Thanks." She smiled shyly and averted my gaze. "But I still don't like you." She said firmly, finding my eyes more confidently with the insult.

"Look..." I began strongly, but a pretty, strawberry-blonde approached us both.

"Hey Edward, how's it going?" She said sweetly.

"Fine." I said shortly.

"That's nice." She said still smiling, waiting for me to return the question. When I didn't, I looked in the opposite direction, she turned to my partner, smile faltering. "Bella right?" She asked to which Bella nodded.

"I'm Tanya; I'm head of the welcome committee here at Forks High. I'll show you around and help you get settled. So I just wanted to say Hi, and welcome to Forks!" She said perkily.

"Well you're a bit late." Bella said with a straight face.

"Excuse me?" Tanya said appalled, I watched intently. Tanya was not someone girls liked to get on the wrong side of.

"I had to make it to gym on my own you know. And I saw you laughing at me in English. You didn't seem so friendly then." She scoffed and turned to pick up her books from the corner.

I stifled a grin, but Tanya caught my smile and narrowed her eyes sarcastically. I shrugged and no longer bothered to hide my smile.

"Wait Bella!" She called and ran over to her, but Bella ignored and continued to walk off.

I highly doubted she knew where she were going, so I trailed closely behind.

"I think you're misunderstood. I wasn't laughing at you!" She laughed and waved her hand. "I was laughing at... something else! Something a friend said sitting next to me." She confirmed.

"Right..." Bella nodded mockingly. "Has this got something to do with that boy I was dancing with?" She said seriously.

"What! Edward? No! Of course not!" She laughed nervously. "Why, did he say something about me?"

"No..." Bella began but was cut off.

"Okay yes it is! He's gorgeous as you can tell, but he thinks he's too good for this place, for everyone here!" Tanya prattled on.

I raised an eyebrow in amusement, but kept my distance not wanting to be seen.

"Well he's been hanging around me an awful lot..."

"I know! Why though?" Tanya asked confused a flipped her hair over her shoulder. "What have you got that I don't?" She consulted Bella.

Bella shrugged. "Why don't you sit with me at lunch? You two can get more acquainted that way." She grinned.

"You mean that!" Tanya's face lit up.

"Sure!" Bella nodded enthusiastically.

"Great! I can tell we are going to be the best of friends!" Tanya said excitedly and hugged a shocked Bella, then ran down the hallway to her next class.

"It's not my problem if I happen to leave as soon as you sit down though." Bella muttered quietly to herself and chuckled low.

I frowned picking up on her scheme to leave me alone with Tanya just as a tiny, spiky haired girl skipped up to me. I groaned to myself and braced myself for impact.

"Hey Eddy!" She called to me.

"Shh.." I hushed her not wanting Bella to know I was so close behind.

"What's up? Why you acting so stealthily Edward? Are you hiding from someone? Hey Ed! That's the new girl up ahead! Look what she's wearing, yuck! I think her name's Bella or something..." She prattled loudly.

Bella heard her name and spun around alert. When she saw me at a close distance behind her, she frowned.

"I don't think she likes you." She whispered.

"Thanks, I figured." I whispered back sarcastically.

"Is this your girlfriend? Bella asked sweetly. "I don't think she'd appreciate your stalking me."

I laughed long and hard as did the girl next to me.

Bella seemed confused and did not get the joke.

"This is my sister..." I said after I'd recovered from laughing so hard.

"Older sister, I'm Alice." She introduced and struck out her hand to Bella, who smiled embarrassed and took her hand.

"Alice is a senior." I said. "She likes to remind me constantly."

"I see you've met Tanya already." Alice said sweetly. "Edward had a HUGE crush on her." She laughed.

"Alice!" I scolded her. "That's not true." I explained to Bella who was listening intently to Alice as she gave her the 'low-down' on Tanya.

I only caught onto a few words; 'cheerleader, evil lying nasty, rot in hell...'

I stood awkwardly the two girls talked as if they were lifelong friends.

"We're going to be late." I sighed.

"He's right." Alice rolled her eyes. "You should sit with us at lunch Bella." Bella nodded in acceptance as Alice danced off to class.

"She's nice." Bella smiled at me.

"She can be a pain, but she's my sister." I shrugged and locked eyes with her longer than necessary. "We've got Government class now." I pointed out to the timetable and cleared my throat.

"Right." She said flustered and followed my lead.

"What about you? Do you have any siblings?" I asked, hoping to learn more about her and that her mysteriousness was just a cover.

"Oh, no it's just me and Dad." She shrugged as we came to the classroom. I held open the door for her as she entered the room.

"No mother?" The words slipped through my lips accidently and immediately I regretted them. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Mum lives back home in Phoenix with my stepfather." She said simply. "You know you're not as a big as a jerk as you let people believe you are." She said.

"I don't know what you..." I began confused.

"Acting so superior, waving people off all the time. I guess that's a big enough reason for me to still have something against you." She smirked, and turned on her heel as she walked away, leaving me speechless in her tracks.

Why are girls so confusing?

**Hey everyone, something happened last time I submitted a chapter and it didn't come up on the live feed. So if anyone knows why that could be, please let me know.**

**Thanks for reading and I'll try post a new chapter sometime next week. **

**Don't forget to review!**


	4. Chapter 4: Tanward

It was lunch and I was messing around with the food on my plate, stabbing a piece of spinach with my fork, when Alice skipped up to me from behind.

"RAH!" She cried in my ear, jolting my shoulders.

Startled, I flipped the food I was playing with up in the air.

"Alice!" I scolded her as she ducked to miss my lunch.

"EW!" A shrill female voice cried from behind. "Spinach, gross!"

"Tanya! I'm so sorry!" I said sincerely, embarrassed.

A few people on the surrounding tables laughed.

"Good shot if I don't say so myself." Alice said smugly and took the seat across from mine.

"Alice!" I hissed.

"Hello Alice." Tanya said with eyes narrowed. "Mind if I sit here Edward? Bella invited me." She smiled to me.

"Bella's not here." I said as Tanya picked the spinach out of her hair.

"Hi Alice." Bella smiled and took the seat next to Alice.

"She is now." Tanya said flippantly and took the seat next to mine while Alice death glared me.

"Make her go. Now." Alice mouthed to me.

"Hey Tanya, isn't that your boyfriend over there? That Newton kid?" I pointed out to a boy who was staring at Tanya intently and furiously, gripping his lunch tray with white knuckles.

"Oh please. We are _so _over. I mean who actually says 'LOL' when they laugh? Please that was like _so _a month ago." She said and flipped her hair.

I smiled awkwardly while Alice stared at her disbelieving.

"Yeah I mean who says LOL? ROFL makes so much more sense." Alice said sarcastically, but Tanya missed the sarcasm.

"I know right!" Tanya nodded.

I glanced over at Bella who was smiling as she listened to the conversation and took a bite out of her apple.

Then her eyes suddenly lost focus as she stared straight ahead, as if she were in a kind of daze. Her mouth formed a little O and she titled her head slightly.

Quickly, I spun around to see what she was staring at.

Walking straight to our table was Alice's boyfriend Jasper.

He, like Alice, was a senior.

Jasper was tall, blonde, Class Captain, straight A student. He was a "hot nerd" in Alice's words.

"Jasper!" Alice jumped up to greet him with a hug and peck on the cheek.

Bella immediately turned a cherry red.

"Hey Ed. Hey look we've got more company!" Jasper smiled and took in the new faces to our table.

"Jasper this is Bella." Alice smiled and pointed out Bella who smiled meekly. Jasper gave her a million dollar smile and she blushed further.

"Tanya! What are you doing here?" Jasper greeted Tanya.

"Bella invited me to sit with you guys!" She gushed.

"If that's the case how come you still have your head?"

Tanya raised an eyebrow confused.

"Well, seeing as your sitting here with Alice, surely she would have bitten it off already." He joked.

"Jasper, you can't make jokes. Don't bother trying." Alice said dully. "We need to talk." She said sternly, took his arm and led him into a quiet corridor.

"Well, now they're gone, we can get to know each other better." Tanya smiled seductively, staring me straight in the eyes.

I squirmed in my seat and looked across the hall to see the Newton boy still death-glaring us.

"Tanya, that'd be great, but you're boyfriend is kind of giving me the creeps." I said, squirming in my seat.

Tanya lost her smile, stared over at the boy and groaned.

"_Ex_-boyfriend. I'll be right back." She sighed and stormed over to him.

"How come Alice doesn't like Tanya?" Bella asked me as we both stared out to watch a furious Tanya stamp her foot, flail her arms around and shout, for the whole cafeteria to hear, at her poor 'ex- boyfriend'."

"It's a long story." I said, watching Newton cower like an infant. "Something to do with cheerleading. I can't even remember the story. It happened her sophomore year."

"Does hatred towards Tanya run in the family then?" She asked.

I averted my gaze from the fight and looked long at Bella.

"I don't hate Tanya; she's just not one of my favourite people." I told her.

"Why not?" She pressed.

"Just because!" I said frustrated.

"But Alice said you had a crush on her." She teased.

"Alice..."

"You have a crush on ME!" Tanya appeared form nowhere and squealed. "That is so funny; I have a thing for you too!"

"WHAT? Tanya where did you come from? Weren't you just over there...?" I asked confused and desperate.

"We should SO start dating!" She said excited and took the seat next to mine.

I looked over at Bella for answers, but she was trying to hold her laughter in.

"I think Bella used the word, HAD. Long time ago, primary school, nothing anymore." I laughed nervously.

"Oh don't be silly, I see the way you look at me! Oh, I knew we were destined for each other! I mean, it only took you two years to grow into your face and get all buff. Before then, you weren't so gorgeous, but now! We'll be perfect together!" She gushed.

"I don't think..." I began but Tanya took my hand in hers.

Alice was heading back to our table, holding Jasper's hand in hers with a very confused expression.

"What's going on?" She asked warily eyeing our knotted hands.

"Tanya and Edward are now an item." Bella smirked.

"No we are..."

"I can't decide which works better, Tanward or Ednya?" Tanya theorised our couple name.

"Neither!" Alice and I chorused infuriated.

"Edward, you've made me the happiest girl alive!" Tanya giggled and used my hand to spin her around, ballroom style.

I looked down into her bright, blue eyes and saw the sparkle of joy, and clearly I did not have the heart to de-sparkle those eyes.

"Sure Tanya, words don't even begin to describe how I feel." I smiled.

Her face lit up and she stood on her toes to peck me on the cheek.

I looked out across the room to see a furious Newton finally snap, as he cracked the tray in half and stormed out of the cafeteria, slamming the door behind himself.

"I'll be right back." Tanya said as she skipped over to her blonde posse.

"Edward Cullen." Alice glared at me, her face going red. "You are in A LOT of trouble." She hissed.

Ignoring Alice I glanced over at Bella who was staring at Jasper. When I caught her eye, she blushed.

I opened my mouth to tell her off, but Tanya returned, took my hand and led me out of the cafeteria.

"I have something to show you." She bit her lip and giggled.

I looked behind to find Bella sitting amused as she gave me a sly wink.

**Hey all, so I don't know how successful this story is actually going, and I've got huge school commitments to attend to at the moment, so for that reason if I get over 10 reviews, I'll happily post the next chapter within the two weeks I try to post each chapter, otherwise I won't bother posting the next chapters. **

**So special thanks to those who have favourited, reviewed and put me on story alert. **

**If you don't believe me and think it's just an excuse to get more reviews then I'll post my economics notes up for next time. It is NOT a fun lesson!!! **

**Storyteller xx**


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